Lite

[lahyt] /laɪt/

adjective
1.
an informal, simplified spelling of 2 (defs 12, 13), used especially in labeling or advertising commercial products:
lite beer.
noun
2.
2 (def 36).
1.
a combining form used in the names of minerals or fossils:
aerolite; chrysolite.
/laɪt/
adjective
1.
(of food and drink) containing few calories or little alcohol or fat
2.
denoting a more restrained or less extreme version of a person or thing: reggae lite
combining form
1.
(in names of minerals) stone: chrysolite Compare -lith
adj.

alternative spelling of light (adj.1), by 1962. Used from at least 1917 in product names, often as a variation of light (n.).

The word Adjusto-Lite for portable electric lamps was opposed by the user of a trade mark Auto-lite registered before the date of use claimed by the applicant. [“The Trade-Mark Reporter,” 1922]

word-forming element meaning “stone,” from French -lite, variant of -lithe, from Greek lithos “stone” (see litho-).

adjective

Not serious; not scholarly; watered down; popularized: there’s myth lite apres Joseph Campbell, Pinkola Estes, etc

[1980s+; fr the misspelling of light used to identify less fattening, less intoxicating, etc, products, esp beer]
spelling
(Misspelling of “light”, when used to mean “lightweight”) A suffix denoting a scaled-down or crippled product, often designed to be distributed without charge, e.g. on a magazine coverdisk. An example is pklite.
(1995-10-06)